Syria in Last 24 Hours:

Army Makes New Advances Towards Idlib's Key Military Airport

Rasa - The Syrian army continued its military operations towards strategic Abu Dhohour military airport in Idlib by sending reinforcement and new equipment to Southern Aleppo.

News ID: 435064

Date: 01 December 2017 - 21:08

RNA - The army units drove back the al-Nusra Front (Tahrir al-Sham Hay'at or the Levant Liberation Board) terrorists from key regions in Eastern Hama after destroying the defense lines of terrorists there.

The Syrian troops killed several terrorists and injured many more in fierce clashes over controlling of the strategic regions. They also destroyed military equipment of the terrorists.

The Syrian army also continued its advances in other key provinces across Syria.

Idlib

The Syrian army extended the range of its advances towards the strategic Abu Dhohour airport in Idlib, sending reinforcement and new equipment to Southern Aleppo.

The army forces continued clashes with al-Nusra Front terrorists in Southern Aleppo on Thursday, regaining control of the village of Ramlat al-Thour.

Meantime, field sources confirmed that the army has sent a new military convoy, consisting of fresh forces and equipment, from Hama to Southern Aleppo.

They added that the army soldiers are moving from three fronts in Southern Aleppo and Eastern Hama towards Abu Dhohour airbase in Southern Idlib.

Meantime, one of al-Nusra Front terrorist group's commanders in Idlib was assassinated as tensions heightened in the province.

Media activists reported on Thursday that unknown assailants fired at the car carrying Abu Mahmoud al-Halabi, a senior al-Nusra commander in Idlib, killing him on the spot.

They added that al-Halabi was the Emir of al-Rouj region in Northwestern Idlib.

In a relevant development, the Syrian Army troops continued to storm terrorists' strongholds in their push towards Idlib from different directions and managed to advance against militants in Southeastern Aleppo, inching closer to Abu al-Dhohour airbase.

The army men drove terrorists out of the village of Mazra'a Southwest of Khanasser after taking control over the villages of Azizeh and Abisan.

The army soldiers, also, managed to capture the villages of Rasm al-Kabara al-Reshadiyah and Rasm al-Khala.

A field source reported that the army troops advanced over 18 km deep into the terrorist-held territories towards Abu al-Dhohour airbase from Khanasser direction.

Hama

The Syrian and Russian fighter jets killed and wounded tens of terrorists in joint operations against al-Nusra Front in Northeastern Hama.

The Syrian and Russian air forces heavily pounded al-Nusra's positions in the village of al-Rahjan in Northeastern Hama as well as the village of al-Zakat in Northern Hama.

Meantime, the Syrian army forces engaged in heavy clashes with al-Nusra terrorists in the town of Um Khazim in Northern Hama.

A field source confirmed that during the operations tens of al-Nusra terrorists were killed and wounded and their weapons and military equipment were destroyed.

In a relevant development, the Syrian army troops and popular forces stormed the strongholds of Al-Nusra Front in Northeastern Hama and managed to capture another strategic region.

The army troops, backed up by the Russian Air Force, advanced toward the towns of Um Miyal and al-Rahjan, two major strongholds of terrorists in Northeastern Hama.

The army men managed to impose control over the small but strategic village of al-Mastariheh Northwest of Sarha al-Shamali after hours of fierce clashes with Al-Nusra.

A large number of Al-Nusra terrorists, including Abu Ma'az Afghani, a field commander, were killed in the clashes.

In the meantime, a field commander stressed that Syrian army units have engaged in fierce clashes with terrorists in al-Rahjan region in recent days, underlining importance of regaining control of al-Mastariheh which is a transit point towards al-Rahjan.

The commander said the army is now situated just South of Um Miyal, leaving militants in a very uncomfortable spot.

According to battlefield reports, if terrorists fail to beat back the army soldiers in the coming days, they will be forced to give up this last piece of Northeastern Hama that is under their control.

Army Deploys Giant Missiles

The Syrian army is still using Scud missiles developed during the Soviet era under the name of Elbrus with a range of almost 300km.

The Arabic website of Sputnik news agency reported that the platform for Elbrus missiles is mounted on Oregon vehicles.

According to media reports, the Syrian army is in possession of new Scud missiles too.

Scud refers to a series of tactical ballistic missiles developed by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. It was exported widely to both Second and Third World countries.

The term comes from the NATO reporting name attached to the missile by Western intelligence agencies. The Russian names for the missile are the R-11 (the first version), and the R-17 (later R-300) Elbrus (later developments).

The name Scud has been widely used to refer to these missiles and the wide variety of derivative variants developed in other countries based on the Soviet design.

Dara'a

The so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) terrorists engaged in clashes with ISIL militants in Western Dara'a, taking control of a number of their positions.

News websites affiliated to the terrorist groups reported on Thursday that 32 ISIL members were killed and 3 others were wounded during clashes with the FSA militants in the town of Tasil in Northwestern Dara'a.

The FSA also won control of 4 regions earlier occupied by the ISIL terrorists.

Relevant reports said in October that a senior commander of the FSA terrorist group and 2 ISIL commanders were killed in Dara'a province in Syria.

News websites affiliated to the dissidents reported that Farouq Qazal, the commander of Brigade 15 of Special Forces affiliated to Ferqat al-Qadesiyeh of the FSA, was killed when a bomb detonated in Dara'a al-Balad region in Dara'a city, adding that another militant was also wounded.

According to the websites, Qazal was defusing a bomb which was planted in front of the house of one of Ahrar al-Sham commanders named Abu Jamal Abu Nabovat when it was detonated.

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